Arch-support.



W. M. SCHOLL.

ARCH SUPPORT.

APPLICATION FILED JAN-3, 1913.

Patented Sept. 7, 1915.

W 211 0mm WILLIAM M. SCHOLL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

Anon-sorrow.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM M. SoHoLL, .a citizen ofthe United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and-useful Improvements in Arch-Supports, of which the following is a specification. v

My invention relates to improvements in arch supports, and in some of its'features more particularly to arch supports for correcting the foot-trouble medically known as metatarsalagie. This condition may be briefly described as a breaking down of the transverse arch of the foot- Usually the ligaments are strained, elongated or displaced; the falling of the transverse arch throws undue pressure on the second, third and fourth metatarsal bones; the corresponding phalanges tend to become unduly elevated or cocked the first and fifth vmetatarsal-phalangeal articulations are apt to be laterally displaced; the-digital nerve is frequently affected; and the anterior region is subject to excruciating pain. Mechanical uplift of the transverse arch is advantageous in relieving the condition, and ofttimes in effecting a permanent cure; but the provision ofan effective appliance properly to secure such uplift is one of peculiar difficulties owing to the requisite changes in the necessary localization of elevation as the condition of the foot changes; and owing further to the nicety with which the supporting surface must be located with respect to the articulations and secure the de-, siredorthopedic effect. v

A salient object of my invention is to provide an instep arch construction particularly adapted to, the treatment of this trouble;

although in some of its features it is generally applicable to instep arch supports wherein a metallic arch-plate for support of the longitudinal arch is provided in conjunction with a cover piece which positions it in the shoe.

In the drawings wherein I have illustrated an embodiment of my invention Figurel is a plan view of the under side of an arch support constructed in accordance with my invention; Fig. 2 is a similar view with the metallic plate removed, showing the cover beads and its attachment to the strip; Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Fig.1; Fig. +1 is a transverse section on line 44 of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a sectional detail on line Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 7, 1915.

Application filed January 3, 1913. Serial lie. 739,983.

5-5 of Fig. 1; and Fig. 6 is a sectional detail on line 66 of Fig. 1.

In the drawings, 10 indicates a positionmg member, in the form of a piece of leather which acts as a cover piece for the metallic arch-plate. This leather cover piece is intended to fit snugly in the heel portion of the shoe to give position to the. metallic parts of the support. The cover piece '10 as shown is preferably of such size and shape that it may extend from the extreme heel of the shoe, where its rear curved edge makes contact with the shoe counter, forwardly to underlie the ball of the foot, the forward end of the cover piece being skived in the usual manner, and its inner lateral edge being extended well up the inner side of the plantar-arch.

11 indicates a metallic arch-plate to be secured to and carried by cover piece l0, thereby to be positioned in the shoe.

Throughout the heel portion and shank portion the metallic plate 11 is shaped for that. is to say it has appropriate longitudinal and transverse curvatures to conform the heel and shank portions of the metal plate to the main arch of the normal human foot, and preferably, I make such plate'to underlie the bony structure of the foot fromthe bearing point of the os-calsis to a point beneath the metatarsal bones and I prefer that the plate of sufficient width to support all of the cuneiform bones,although the rearward and transverse extent of the heel and the plate, a' receiving channel 12, preferably formed by depressing the metal of the plate as best shown'inFigs. 3 and 4:. The ends of this depressed. channel may merge into the extreme portions of the plate so that when the plate is in use the channel does not interfere with its insertion into the shoe.

Attached to the under side of the cover piece 10 is a flexible metallic strip 13, se-

' should normally bear the brunt-of pressure, shallbe left free from substanplate. Said strip .13 primarily 'afiordsa guiding and anchorage piece for' the reception of connecting parts by which the arch: plate 11 is movably or .shiftably connected with the cover piece 10. It is advantageous that the strip 13 be continuous in order posi tively to space the connecting members apart and to stiffen the cover piece somewhat in a longitudinal direction and it is preferable that .the strip be as thick as the channel is for in' the bottom surface of channel 12, and

saidboss is centrally threaded to receive 'a retainingscrew 18 the'head of which extends over the edges of slot 16 to clamp the arch-plate to the strip 13' in adjusted position. Similar provision may be made at the front end of strip 13, but I prefer that the adjusting means at. the front end of the strip shall admit of universal adjustment of the front end of the plate beneath the cover piece. To thisend I mount an eccentrio disk 20 upon stud 21 which is secured to the front end of' the strip '13, "said disk fitting transversely in a slot 16 in the bottom of the depressed channel 12 and said stud 21 receiving screw 22 extending sufiiciently beyond the edge of the eccentric disk to clamp the disk, the metal arch-plate and the cover piece in adjusted relation to each other. It-will be seen that the slots 1616 permit the plate 11 to be longitudinally adjusted while the disk connection permits the front end of the arch-plate'to be adjusted laterally somewhat with respect to theleather co'ver piece accordingly as the disk isthrbwn eccentrically to its stud 21, and of course the strip 13 should have such playwithin the depressed channel 12 as to accommodate any adjustment of the archplate relative tostri'p 13 within the range of throw of the disk, the depressed channel '12 to this end being preferably slightly tapered from front to rear-as shown in F ig': 1.

' It will be observed that the construction described, permits the front endof the archplate to be universally adjusted. with'respect to'the cover piece and this is'o'f advantage in many forms of arch support',-'enabling the metallic plate member to be brought exactly inthe proper position with respect to the foot of the wearer Without detaching it from the cover piece. I

In the treatment of metat'arsalagie I find itto be important that the, first. and fifth inetatarsal-phalangeal articulations, which the'foot tial elevation, .in order that no undue strain may be thrown thereon, and for relief of the pressure which the improper condition of the foot causes to be thrown upon thesecond, third and fourth articulations, the support- .I ,find it advantageous so to shape the front end of the arch plate 11 used in such cases to provide two cut-away portions or recesses 26 and 27 respectively to receive the heads of the first and fifth metatarsal bones, and to provide between said two recesses a longitudinally projected tongue 28 in which is formed additionally to the normal curvatures of'the arch-plate, a hump or convex protuberance 29 the efl'ect of which is to force upward the fleshy portions of the foot. immediately underlying the second, third and fourth metatarsal bones. This boss should' be carried well forward into the tongue 28 so that the elevating effect may be applied as" close as possible'to the heads, of the affected metatarsal bones without directly underlying the heads of said-bones with the edges of said metalplate: In connection with this, arrangement the adjustability of the arch-plate with respect to the cover piece is of particular'a'dvantage, as a very slightchange in adjustment of the position of the hump 28 will vary to a material degree the effectiveness oft-he 'appliance to restore "the'broken' transverse arch although in most instances such adjustments are elatively so slight that they do not unduly disturb the relati'on'ofthe shank of the-plate to the foot of the wearer. Furthermore in cases of metatarsalagie a gradual change in,

the condition of the foot dueto its improvement undcr'treatment often necessitates readjustment from time to time ofithelocation of the transverse hump with respect to the footof the wearer, it being commonly the case that the painfulness of the foot in the'early stages of treatment necessitates the placement of the hump farther back toward the instep thanis the case when the treatment has proceeded farther and the swelling and pain have diminished. Furthermore,

I find that the relative lengths of the cover piece and arch plate must sometimes be varied, and to'insur'e-that a proper relation of:

these parts may be easily attained I preferably make the cover piece foreach size of 'a'rch plate 'of thatlength which is aboutthe maximum that may be required for the given length of arch plate, and then inthe heel portion of the cover piece I form size indicatingmai-ks or'curves 30, preferably in the formof' cuts or score-marks effectively attenuating the leatheralong the 'curvedlines, and score-marks preferably extending from the'under side of the leather almost to the top surface thereof so that the leather may readily be trimmed down. In practice since the cover pieces are intended to fit with reasonable accuracy in ordinary shoes, it is preferable to make the score lines at such distances apart as to representapproximately the usual variations in shoe sizes.

\Vhile I have herein described in some detail a particular embodiment of my invention it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes might be madein the detail of construction without departure from my invention and within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. An arch-plate adapted to underlie the ball of a human foot having its upper surface curved for general conformity with the curvatures of the appropriate plantar surfaces of the foot, and having a non-flexible and non-resilient front end shaped to provide a projecting tongue to underlie the forward portions of the central metatarsal bones and to leave free from such support the heads of the first and fifth metatarsal bones, said plate having formed therein, in addition to its, normal curvature, a transverse hump for support of the central metatarsal bone, said hump extending into the tongue.

2. In an arch support the combination of a cover piece, a plate adapted to underlie the ball of a human foot having its upper surface generally curved to conform to the adjacent portions of the plantar surface of the foot, the front edge of said plate being provided, in addition to its normal curvatures, with a transverse hump to support the middle metatarsal bones, and means connecting said plate to said cover piece for adjustment of said plate both longitudinally and transversely with respect to the cover piece.

3. In an arch support, the combination of a leather'cover piece, shaped to fit the heel of the shoe and extending thence along the inner and outer sides of the shoe to a point approximately at the ball of the foot, and having an extension to extend up the inside curve of the shank of the foot, a metal arch plate shaped to conform substantially to the curvatures of the under side of the foot and to extend from the bearing point adjacent the heel of the foot at one end to a bearing point adjacent the ball of the foot at the other end, and transversely to conform to the curvature of the high arched point or surface underlying the scaphoid and ,adjacent cuneiform bones and devices carried by said cover piece for connecting the same to the plate at longitudinally spaced points, one of. said connecting devices providing longitudinal movement of said arch plate with respect to the cover piece and the other providing movement in all directions in the plane of said plate.

4. In an arch support the combination of a leather cover piece, shaped to fit the heel of the shoe and extending thence along the inner and outer sides of the shoe to a point approximately at the ball of the foot, and having an extension to extend up the mside curve of the shank of the foot, a metal arch plate shaped to conform substantlally to the curvatures of the under side of the foot and to extend from the bearing point adjacent the heel of the foot and to one end to a bearing point adjacent the ball of the foot at the other end, and transversely to conform to the curvature of the high arched point or surface underlying the scaphoid and adjacent" cuneiform bones, and adjusting means interposed between the forward end of said arch plate and the superposed portion of the cover piece for effecting adjustment of said portion of said arch plate with respect to the cooperating portion of the leather cover piece in all directions in the plane of said plate.

5. In an arch support the combination of a leather cover piece, metal anchorage members secured thereto at front and rear portions thereof, a metal arch-plate having openings therein, and means secured to said anchorage members and engaging said openings in the arch-plate for adjusting the rear of the arch-plate longitudinally with respect to the cover piece and the front end in all directions in the plane of the plate.

6. In an arch support the combination of a leather, cover piece, anchorage strips secured thereto, an arch-plate having therein a channel to receive the strip, and means connecting the strip and arch-plate for relative longitudinal adjustment.

7. In-an arch support, the combination of a leather cover piece shaped to fit the shank and heel of a shoe, an arch plate shaped substantially to conform to the shank portion of a human instep to extend from the point adjacent the heel to a point adjacent the ball of the foot, said plate having apertures at longitudinally spaced points there.

inand connecting devices carried by the cover piece engaging, and relatively movable with respect to, the apertures in the plate, one of said connecting devices providing longitudinal movement of said arch plate with respect to the cover piece and the other providing movement in all directions in the plane of the plate.

8. In an arch support, the combination of a leather coverpiece, adapted to interfit with the heel and shank of ashoe, an arch plate having alining openings therein at different longitudinal points, and the rear opening being longitudinally extended and the front opening being substantially circular, a post connected to the leather cover piece engaging the extended rear opening in the plate and a rotatable part carried by the leather cover piece, engaging the 1 circular opening in the plate, whereby the .,all directions in the plane of the plate with and means for connecting said strip and respect to the cover piece that the rear end channeled plate permitting longitudinal and may slide longitudinally with respect lateral adjustment of the front end of said thereto. plate with respect to the cover piece.

5 9.VIn an arch" support, the combination In testimony whereof I hereunto set my 15 of a leather cover piece, a longitudinally hand in the presence of two witnesses.

extending anchorage strip secured thereto, WILLIAM M. SCHOLL. an arch plate having therein a longitudi- In the presence ofnal channel to receive said strip, said chan- W. LENN ALLEN,

10 nel tapering from its front to its rear end MARY F. ALLEN.

Copies of this patent maybe obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. G. 

